Tony Abbott and The PC Fun Police

As prescient a sign of what things will be like under the looming Coalition government, Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott has announced that he will repeal existing racial discrimination that prevent vilification of individuals on the grounds of race and ethnicity.

In a speech at an Institute of Public Affairs function, Mr Abbott said that as prime minister, he would remove section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act as part of a “new debate about freedom of speech.”

Under the current law, statements are prohibited if they “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” people based on race and ethnicity.

“Making the likelihood of causing offence to a group the test of acceptable behaviour goes way beyond the time-honoured remedy when a particular victim has been brought into hatred, ridicule, or contempt,” Mr Abbott told the function.

“A hurt feelings test is impossible to comply with while maintaining the fearless pursuit of truth” he said apparantly.

“If it’s alright for David Marr, for instance, to upset conservative Christians, in his attempt to have them see the error of their ways, why is it not alright for Andrew Bolt to upset activist Aboriginals to the same end?”

Well the difference I would’ve thought, is that religion is “a choice,” and if people want to believe in the great big scary sky fairy, then they might expect to encounter some ridicule, whereas someone’s nationality isn’t really something that they have a great deal of scope to determine.

It’s not that difficult a distinction to comprehend if yo think about it.

Mr Abbott’s speech came after he wrote in The Australian newspaper on Monday that section 18C of the act was a “threat” to freedom of speech.

So what is this pesky so-called “section 18C” of the act, and why does it want to ruin our way of life?

Thanks to our extensive research and editorial team at the Daily Trash Institute of Interstellar Research and Mollecular Science, we can bring you the act in its entirety, which is:

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975 – SECT 18C

Offensive behaviour because of race, colour or national or ethnic origin

(1)  It is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:

(a)  the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and

(b)  the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group.

Note:

Subsection (1) makes certain acts unlawful. Section 46P of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 allows people to make complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission about unlawful acts. However, an unlawful act is not necessarily a criminal offence. Section 26 says that this Act does not make it an offence to do an act that is unlawful because of this Part, unless Part IV expressly says that the act is an offence.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1), an act is taken not to be done in private if it:

(a)  causes words, sounds, images or writing to be communicated to the public; or

(b)  is done in a public place; or

(c)  is done in the sight or hearing of people who are in a public place.

(3)  In this section:

“public place” includes any place to which the public have access as of right or by invitation, whether express or implied and whether or not a charge is made for admission to the place.

Clearly, according to Mr Abbott, political correctness has gone too far.

Mr Abbott  defended News Limited columnist Andrew Bolt, who breached the Racial Discrimination Act in 2009 in articles he wrote on fair-skinned Aborigines.

The articles, published in 2009, were headlined “It’s so hip to be black” and “White fellas in the black”.

“Expression or advocacy should never be unlawful merely because it is offensive,” he wrote.

For far too long wealthy middle-class white conservatives have had to restrain themselves from launching racially-based tirades, and clearly this cannot be allowed to continue.

Mr Abbott said while the articles were not Mr Bolt’s finest work, the commentator should have been afforded “the right of freedom of speech.”

How much more damage is this act going to do..?

How much more racially motivated hate speech will we be denied…??!!

Who will think of the neo-Nazis…???!!!

Here is a transcript of Tony Abbott’s speech.  Oh god no yes it is.

As Olivia Illyria said on twitter:

“When Abbott talks about ‘freedom’ he means the ‘right’ for white privileged men to harangue minorities with impunity.”

It’s hard to argue with that.

Meanwhile, that other shining beacon of humanity and compassion Erica Betz, has sent a message to “Molecules” Gillard over the reemergence of the gay marriage debate.

In the wake of Tasmanian Senator Lara Giddings announcing that she will push for State Laws to be amended to allow marriage between same sex couples, Mr Betz has called on the PM to veto the law changes.

“Julia Gillard should come out and say I’ve made my position clear, the federal law is clear and therefore we will have it struck out in the High Court,” he said earlier today.

Don’t you just love the warmth and compassion of our elected leaders…?